


Oh look, Mistletoe!

by DeviousOmens



Category: Broadchurch, Illogical Husbands - Fandom, Masters of Sex
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Illogical Husbands - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:49:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21866251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeviousOmens/pseuds/DeviousOmens
Summary: just another cliche Christmas story involving mistletoe!
Relationships: Alec Hardy/William Masters, bill masters/Alec Hardy
Comments: 12
Kudos: 56





	Oh look, Mistletoe!

* * *

Bill looked at himself in the mirror as he adjusted his bow tie over and over again. Why had he agreed to go to Ellie’s Christmas party? He’d only know a handful of people there and most of them would be patients of his.

He sighed then gave up trying to make his tie perfect and put on his jacket. He grabbed his coat and the bottle of wine he’d gotten and left.

At Ellie's front door he paused before finally ringing the bell. He looked around as he waited, the streets were quiet and it felt like it might snow.

“Oh Bill, I’m so glad you came!” Ellie exclaimed as she opened the door and saw him.

He smiled awkwardly at her, “Thank you for inviting me.” He said as he held out the bottle of wine, “I hope you like it.”

She took the bottle and smiled at him again, “My favorite, thank you!” She let him in and took his coat before hanging it up, “There’s food and drinks through there and I apologize for this but Chloe Latimer is in charge of the music.”

He chuckled, “That’s okay.”

“Enjoy!” She said then turned on her cheery heels and headed into the kitchen.

Bill said hello to a few people as he made his way further into the party. There must have been anywhere from 20 to 30 people in the house which wasn’t all that big to begin with.

He questioned again why he was here and then remembered that Ellie, the first person who befriended him 6 months ago when he came to town, told him he needed to get out more, to meet people.

She must have used the same reason to get her partner? Boss? Friend? or whatever Alec Hardy was to her, to come to the party because there he was standing alone by the fireplace, a drink in his hand and a small scowl on his face.

Bill found it quite charming actually.

He hadn’t talked much with Hardy, mostly hello and goodbye. It was hard to talk to someone who pretty much grunted responses or glared. Ellie would tell Bill not to mind him, that he was a good guy just stuck in his head a lot. Bill often wondered what went on in the detective’s head that made him seem so unapproachable.

Hardy was just standing in the corner and no one was talking to him. Maybe he preferred it that way or maybe others didn’t want to approach him because he was giving off a ‘don’t talk to me’ vibe. Bill didn’t care what vibe he was giving off; he was going to go and talk to the man.

He went to grab himself a drink first, it wasn’t that he needed liquid courage or anything like that he just, wanted to calm his nerves. When he turned from the drink table, he noticed Alec was no longer in his corner by the fireplace.

He looked around the room and didn’t spot him, which would have been easy to do since he was a lanky man. He wandered through the house, getting stopped by a few people here and there where he made idle small talk before smiling politely and excusing himself.

Ellie came to find him standing in the spot Alec had previously occupied, a fresh drink in his hand.

“Having fun?” She asked him as she nibbled on a cheese cube that had been stabbed with a toothpick.

“I am.” He said to her, which wasn’t a complete lie. He really enjoyed talking with Beth and Ellie’s son Tom.

“Is Alec…. I mean DI Hardy still here?”

Ellie smiled at him.

“What?” He asked unsure why she was smiling at him the way she was.

“You fancy him, don’t you?”

Bill scoffed, “I barely know the man!”

Her smile got wider and she wagged a finger at him, “That wasn’t a no.” She then walked away from him to go talk to some of her other guests.

Bill made his way to the backdoor and stepped out into the night air. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

“Little stuffy in there.”

Bill’s eyes shot open and he jumped a little as he turned to see Alec standing in the dark, leaning against the house. Bill put a hand over his heart and tried to breathe normally so his heart wouldn’t beat out of his chest.

“Didn’t mean to scare you.” Alec said stepping a little more into the light.

“It’s… I’m fine.” Bill said to him.

They stood silently for a few minutes before Alec said, “I don’t really do well at things like this.”

“Why’d you come then?”

“It’s Miller. She would have kept pestering me till I agreed to come.” Alec told him, “Plus she gave me this tie.”

Bill looked at him, “She gave you a tie?”

“It’s a special tie. She said as soon as she saw it, she knew she had to get it for me.” Alec told him and when Bill gave him a curious look, still not understanding why a black tie would be so special, Alec pinched the Windsor knot and the words Bah Humbug in green and red lights lit up on the tie.

Bill laughed, “What in the world?”

Alec pinched his tie again and shut off the lights. “She found it funny as well.”

“You’re a good sport for wearing it.” Bill said to him with a smile.

He shrugged a shoulder and grinned at him.

They stood in awkward silence again, this had been the most they'd spoken to each other and Bill finally got to hear just how lovely his Scottish accent was.

“Think they’ve noticed we’re gone?” Bill asked.

“Miller has.” Alec said then nodded toward the kitchen, “She keeps looking out the window at us and smiling.”

“She must be drunk.” Bill said as he turned just in time to see Miller duck away from the window.

They stayed outside for the remainder of the party, every now and then one of them would venture inside to grab drinks or a plate of food to bring out to the other one.

Ellie still checked up on them by “causally” walking past the kitchen window but she never came outside.

Eventually they both went inside and noticed that only a few people remained. The party had died down and they never even knew it.

Ellie was saying good night to a couple that Bill didn’t recognized then she turned her attention to Bill and Alec. “Well hello you two.”

“Hello.” Bill said to her while Alec just sort of nodded and grunted before going to grab his coat.

“I apologize for staying outside most of the night.” Bill said to her as they went to the front door.

“Oh, that’s okay.” Ellie said then smiled when Alec joined them, “As long as you had fun that’s all that really matters.”

“Thank you for an enjoyable evening.” Bill said to her then put on his coat.

“Merry Christmas.” She said to him and he nodded.

She turned her attention now to Alec, “Do it for me one more time.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes before pinching his tie and she giggled with delight as the words lit up. He turned it off and she frowned a little.

“Merry Christmas.” She said to him and he replied of course with a “Bah humbug.”

She opened the front door for them and they both moved to walked out. “Oh, well look at that.” She said.

Both men looked up to see the mistletoe. They looked at each other then over to Ellie, whose smile was as bright as the sun.

“It’s tradition.” She said.

They both looked at each other again, staring for a minute before Bill shrugged his shoulders, grabbed the front of Alec’s coat with both hands and pulled him in. He kissed him on the lips then released him with a little push.

“Good night Ellie.” He said to her then turned to Alec who still had a stunned look on his face, “You have yourself a Merry Christmas, Alec.”

“Y-You too, Bill.”

Bill smiled at him one more time before heading out the open front door leaving Ellie grinning from ear to ear and Alec reconsidering his thoughts on the holiday. 


End file.
